In the third edition of the State of the Pork Industry Report, Farm Journal’s PORK editor Jennifer Shike joins Cara Haden, veterinarian with Pipestone; Randy Kuker, director of swine production for The Equity; Adam Annegers, sow production manager at JBS; and Brad Eckberg, product subject matter expert with MetaFarms, to compare Q3 2024 sow and grow-finish data (obtained by MetaFarms from July 1 to Sept. 30) to what the experts are seeing in the barns.
Watch or listen to their entire discussion on YouTube. These experts share takeaways from Q3 and how understanding percentiles can help your farm be more profitable now and in the future.
“There is a lot of positivity in the pork industry right now that can be attributed to higher farrowing rates this year, as well as higher born alive and lower stillborn numbers,” Eckberg says. “We saw a decrease in sow mortality by 1.2% from the from the same time last year.”
This positive reduction in sow mortality is significant for the industry, that will likely see the first yearly decline in almost six years of collecting sow mortality data, Eckberg adds. He believes extra focus on animal husbandry and animal welfare has helped the industry make improvements.
Meanwhile, Haden points out the decrease in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is contributing to the reduction in sow mortality, too. From 2011-2012, the PRRS incidence rate was 40%. In 2023-2024, the PRRS incidence rate was less than 20%.
“It is absolutely, hands-down, the best PRRS year we’ve had since we started tracking PRRS incidence,” she says.
As a sow farm manager, Annegers likes seeing the industry trend in the right direction but says there is still opportunity to improve.
“A big thing we’re working on is focusing on what we can control,” Annegers says. “We can identify those girls that need to be treated earlier and get medication into them. We can select the highest quality gilts with good leg structure. We can keep sows in the right condition all the time. If we focus on what we can control, we’ll be a lot better off.”
Kuker says it’s harder for him to correlate the lower sow mortality rates with what he is seeing on the finishing side, but he does know he has been seeing healthier pigs in the last six to nine months.
“I’m getting better startups on my pigs,” he says. “I’m dealing with less respiratory issues. Of the flows that I see, we’ve had less instances of PRRS breaks from the sow farms and less lateral breaks in our area than what we dealt with a year ago.”
That increase in overall health of the wean pig and decreased incidence of lateral disease has been a nice change, he adds.
On the grow-finish side, Eckberg says average daily gain continues to surprise him. In Q3, finishing hogs averaged a 1.94 lb. average daily gain. Feed conversion was also improved at 2.76 for finishing hogs.
Kuker says they’ve experienced less severe E coli. breaks, which he attributes to using more biosecurity measures and different feed ingredients and different levels of zinc.
Here are a few other key points the experts discussed:
1. Execution counts.
“In the pig industry there are many different companies and many different protocol books, but 90% of the protocols are the same. Those teams that can execute daily protocols and make the right decisions will share in that success,” Annegers says.
2. Invest in continuing caregiver education.
“Don’t underestimate how important caregivers are and how a different caregiver can drive different numbers. You can have a really healthy farm, and it can have very different performance depending on the caregivers and their ability to take care of the sows,” Haden says.
3. As the seasons change, don’t let up on biosecurity.
“We know once crops come out, we’re going to start hauling manure, pumping manure and there’s just going to be a lot of activity going – a lot of virus out there that wasn’t there before. Being prepared and being proactive is a huge part to keeping your farm healthy through those challenging months,” Annegers says.
4. Focus on transportation.
“Take your time and take smaller groups. Do more training and set expectations to make sure people are moving the pigs in a responsible way so they’re not over-stressing them and causing more damage than they should be,” Kuker says.
5. Caregiver presence in the pens before marketing makes a difference.
“Studies would consistently show that the more time a caregiver spends in the pens with the pigs prior to marketing, the lower stress those sorting and loading events are going to be on the pig. Prior to marketing is when we may start ignoring groups because they’re just about to be out of our hair. That’s really when we need to be boots-on-the-ground in the pens, getting them used to the presence of people,” Haden says.
There are always many things that producers can focus on, but Annegers reminds producers to stay positive.
“It’s easy for us to point out opportunity areas. But, sometimes we forget to focus on the wins,” Annegers adds. “Help our industry by spreading some enthusiasm and positivity on where we’re headed.”
Watch the full State of the Pork Industry Report on YouTube or listen on The PORK Podcast anywhere podcasts are found.
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